Blog

Hack Week 2019

The more constraints one imposes, the more one frees one’s self. And the arbitrariness of the constraint serves only to obtain precision of execution.Igor Stravinsky

After weeks of planning, we’re excited to kick off the second annual Hack Week at Enigma.

While last year’s Hack Week was our first, it helped us start the year with a fresh perspective, stretch our thinking and pull the company together in a fun, collaborative way. A week dedicated to data-driven projects outside the scope of our normal work, Hack Week is not only a chance for us to flex our creative muscles and get our hands dirty with code, it’s also an opportunity to work with new people and build rapport.

As we gear up for the rest of this week, we wanted to share a couple of the reasons as to why Hack Week holds such a special place in our hearts.

Hack Week is a chance to get back to our roots.

While all our work at Enigma ties back to our mission—to empower others to interpret and improve the world around them—Hack Week gives us a chance to practice what we preach.

At Enigma, this is the purpose of Hack Week. We love data, and we especially love all the wild and crazy things you can do with data. This is the one week during the year when we get a chance to really dig in to data and see what we’re capable of building.

Hack Week embodies our core values.

Hack Week is a prime example of Enigma’s values-based culture:

CuriosityDedicating a week to non-work related projects give us the freedom to pursue our curious inclinations and test our own theories. Hack Week creates real electricity in the office as we’re able to think big, work cross-functionally and finally see ideas—some serious, some silly—come to fruition.

GenerosityCollaboration is the cornerstone upon which Hack Week is built. Teams are given the freedom to self-organize and pursue whichever projects they find most compelling. No role is too big or too small—everyone relies on one another, with each person’s skills complementing the overall strength of the team.

HustleHustle is the spirit of Hack Week. Everyone has an extremely tight window to develop a project all the way from infancy to fully functioning prototype. The pressure to complete such a monumental task in such a limited time frame creates a buzz in the office—the excitement is palpable.

Want to know what we’re building?

To celebrate Hack Week, we’re sharing our process and projects with the world!

If you want to know what it’s like to be at Enigma this week, we’re taking over the homepage of our website with a livestream of the office—just tune in during business hours.

Wondering what our teams are actually working on? Follow along with us on our various social accounts and keep an eye on our blog—in addition to photos and videos, we’ll be publishing a few posts in the coming weeks.

And, of course, if you think Hack Week sounds like a blast and you want to be in on the next one, we’re hiring. Come build with us.